From 1995 to 2003, we worked with Macy*s West off and on, producing literally hundreds of television commercials. The challenge: To increase sales without sacrificing the upscale image of the brand, and to do all this within the confines of very complex merchandising needs. In spring 2003, we helped Macy*s with a new campaign: “New gets you noticed.” A new format helped drive business and brand objectives separately. We divided the spot into two 15-second ads, separating the retail sequence from the brand message. Entertaining and elegant vignettes built the Macy*s brand by showing how Macy*s helped get our stylish “heroine” noticed. And the new separated product sequences were flexible enough to allow merchants to say whatever was necessary to drive people into the stores. This format made developing and approving creative very easy, and initial results show it worked: Sales remained steady in a very bad retail economy.